Mumbai (The Hindu): An 18-year-old girl and a 35-year-old man are feared to have drowned off the sea face at Bandstand, Bandra on Saturday morning. Search and rescue operations are still underway, with the local police, fire brigade and Coast Guard pooling in their resources.

According to the Bandra police, the incident occurred at 10:50 am on Saturday. The police said the three girls, Tarannum Ansari (18), Anjum Khan (19) and Masturi Khan (19), all residents of the Bainganwadi area in Govandi, had gone to Bandstand to spend the day there.

“The three girls were standing on the rocks in the sea and taking pictures and selfies. A sudden caused them to lose their balance,” said an officer with the Bandra police.

Seeing this, Ramesh Walunj (35), a resident of the Jaffar Buwa colony near Bandstand, stopped at the sea face while on his way to work. He saw the girls falling into the water and rushed towards the sea. Witnesses told the police that he jumped into the water without a second’s hesitation. He managed to pull Anjum and Masturi out of the water and went back for Tarannum, which was the last time he was seen.

Ramesh is survived by his wife and three children, one of whom is mentally challenged. His neighbours remember him as a simple and quiet person. He used to work as a driver, while his wife works as a housemaid.

Witnesses called the police control room and narrated the incident. The information was relayed to the Bandra police station and to the fire brigade, and both agencies rushed teams to the spot. Two patrol boats from the nearby Versova Sagari police station were also diverted to the spot. By Saturday afternoon, the Coast Guard had pressed a chopper into service to try and trace the missing. “Search and rescue operations were called off in the evening because of failing light. They will resume on Sunday morning,” Mumbai Police spokesperson DCP Dhananjay Kulkarni said on Saturday evening.

Tarannum was a student of SNDT University, while Anjum and Masturi are students of Mehta College in Chembur and Rajiv Gandhi College in Vashi.

The police said the three girls were close friends, having stayed in the same area for several year

Photo credit: The Hindu